Here’s a little PR exercise for you to try at home.
Take a cause – any cause – and see if you can devise a strategy to guarantee it maximum exposure even if it is something the vast majority of people don’t subscribe to.
Could you work out a way to get the whole nation talking about your campaign? Could you get one of the highest-profile TV presenters in the land talking about it? Could you make it the most commented-about article in your local newspaper?
It’s a tough challenge isn’t it?
But it’s exactly what vegan campaigners have managed to do in the last few months.
Just this week we’ve seen Piers Morgan spitting out a Greggs vegan sausage roll live on TV – while co-host Susanna Reid declared it wonderful.
Burger behemoth McDonald’s started the year by introducing its first ever vegan-friendly Happy Meal, along with a new Spicy Veggie Wrap on the main menu thanks to growing demand from customers for meat-free options.
And closer to home, Shropshire Council deputy leader Steve Charmley triggered a huge discussion on social media and the comment pages of the local newspaper after questioning whether adverts promoting Veganuary should be allowed on the back of county buses.
Wherever you turn, it seems, people are discussing veganism and the vegan agenda.
Considering the Vegan Society itself reckons there are only around 540,000 vegans in the whole of Great Britain, this is pretty impressive coverage for what is essentially a minority lifestyle choice.
I don’t want to get into an argument about the rights and wrongs of veganism here. That is for better qualified people than me to discuss.
But whatever your views, the way the issue has become a major talking point across the country – and is now firmly fixed on both the political and moral agenda – points to pretty impressive work from those charged with broadening knowledge of veganism.
After all, one of the first rules of any campaign is to get people talking about you or your product.
And if it leaves a bad taste in Piers Morgan’s mouth, so much the better.
